The present invention relates generally to fiber optic cable. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved optical trunk cable having a plurality of cable units that may be individually branched.
The ability of high-quality optical fiber to transmit large amounts of information without appreciable signal degradation is well known. As a result, optical fibers have found widespread use in many applications, such as voice and data transmission. For example, the need for greater bandwidth in residential settings has brought optical fibers directly into homes and multiple dwelling units (MDUs). Such applications have generally come to be known by the acronym FTTH (“Fiber To The Home”).
In deployment of fiber optic cable for FTTH applications there is a need to access one or more fibers within a cable at various points over a given route. Each time the cable is accessed the integrity of the cable is compromised. The jacket is opened and buffer tubes accessed to remove and splice individual fibers. A sealing mechanism such as a closure must be used to cover this access point and protect the fiber and cable from the environment. Since accessing fiber from the cable exposes potentially all fibers depending on the cable design this method is fraught with risk as other fibers could be damaged.
The present invention recognizes the foregoing considerations, and others, of the prior art.